NBAIS Allocates ₦18 Billion for Staff Costs in 2026 Budget

The National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) has allocated ₦18.05 billion for personnel costs in its 2026 budget, representing about 68 percent of its total ₦26.47 billion allocation for the year.

Budget documents show that ₦15.41 billion is earmarked for salaries, while ₦2.64 billion will cover allowances and statutory social contributions, including pensions, health insurance, and employee compensation.

The remaining budget includes ₦318 million for overhead expenses and ₦8.1 billion for capital projects.

Among the capital projects are road construction, solar-powered streetlights, youth empowerment programmes, food distribution, and entrepreneurship training across Kano, Katsina, Kogi, and Zamfara states. More than ₦1.5 billion has been allocated for solar streetlight installations in several local government areas in Kano State.

The budget also provides funding for youth training in social and electronic media, plastic recycling initiatives, and cash grants for selected communities.

Efforts by Daily Trust to obtain an official response from NBAIS were unsuccessful at the time of publication. However, a source within the board said many staff members were engaged in supervising nationwide June–July external examinations. Another source estimated the agency's workforce at about 6,000 employees.

The budget has drawn criticism from public policy experts, who questioned the size of the personnel allocation compared to similar education agencies. They argued that NBAIS's wage bill exceeds those of several larger education institutions, including the National Examinations Council (NECO), the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

Some analysts also called for reforms, arguing that the board's examination responsibilities could be integrated into existing national examination bodies to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

NBAIS was officially recognized in 2011 as a national examination and regulatory body for Arabic and Islamic education. It currently oversees more than 1,600 public and private schools as well as over 5,000 Tsangaya schools across Nigeria.

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